UNLV Sociology Faculty Publications: Andrew Spivak

This study examines the relationship between gender and juvenile justice processing outcomes for status offenders. The feminist criminological concept of judicial paternalism suggests that official justice systems, as gendered institutions with traditional patriarchal norms, will treat delinquent girls differently than delinquent boys. This paternalistic effect should be especially prevalent for status offenses, which are used to enforce institutional (parental, school, civic, parochial) authority. Using 1999-2001 juvenile processing data for 3,329 status offense referrals to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (N = 3,329) and controlling for age, race, prior history, type of status offense, and measures of social class and urban environment, our results indicate that (a) girls outnumber boys among status offenders, (b) girls are more likely than boys to have their petitions filed for review, (c) girls are less likely than boys to be adjudicated guilty, and (d) girls are just as likely as boys to receive an incarcerated custody sentence as opposed to probation. We argue that these results illustrate the manifestation of the juvenile justice system as a gendered institution in which the adjudication of status offenders reflects judicial paternalism.

Background: Scholars who examine the efficacy of juvenile tobacco sales restrictions, especially the 1992 “Synar Amendment” that led all of fifty U.S. states to enact prohibitions on tobacco sales to minors, are notably divided as to impact on youth smoking. Some researchers claim that such policies have failed and ought to be abandoned (Craig and Boris, 2007, Etter, 2006 and Glantz, 2002), while others insist that enforcement has indeed led to reduced tobacco use (DiFranza, 2011b and SAMHSA, 2011). The present study is the first to combine data on Synar violation rates from all states and years available since the amendment's implementation, assessing the connection to national rates of cigarette sales and youth smoking behavior. Methods: Using national data from the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Tobacco Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System across all U.S. states between 1996 and 2007, we employ hierarchical linear modeling to examine the connection between retailer Synar violations and youth smoking. Results: Controlling for state-level demographic variables, results indicate that retailer violation rates are significantly associated with greater youth smoking prevalence, as well as higher overall cigarette sales. Conclusion: While critiques of Synar policies are substantive and should be addressed, laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to juveniles appear to have had some degree of success.

This study examines the relationship between gender and juvenile justice processing outcomes for status offenders. The feminist criminological concept of judicial paternalism suggests that official justice systems, as gendered institutions with traditional patriarchal norms, will treat delinquent girls differently than delinquent boys. This paternalistic effect should be especially prevalent for status offenses, which are used to enforce institutional (parental, school, civic, parochial) authority. Using 1999-2001 juvenile processing data for 3,329 status offense referrals to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (N = 3,329) and controlling for age, race, prior history, type of status offense, and measures of social class and urban environment, our results indicate that (a) girls outnumber boys among status offenders, (b) girls are more likely than boys to have their petitions filed for review, (c) girls are less likely than boys to be adjudicated guilty, and (d) girls are just as likely as boys to receive an incarcerated custody sentence as opposed to probation. We argue that these results illustrate the manifestation of the juvenile justice system as a gendered institution in which the adjudication of status offenders reflects judicial paternalism.

Objectives - Sociologists and other scholars have debated the causes of continuing residential segregation for several decades. Social class has been largely discounted as a substantial determinant of residential segregation by race, but recent studies have brought renewed attention to class variables. The present study reassesses the role of social class, using household income, while also considering metropolitan area characteristics. Methods - This study expands on prior research by examining residential segregation between black-alone and white-alone households with 2000 decennial Census data for all U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with at least 200,000 or more black population or 1,000,000 total population (60 MSAs total), using both spatial unevenness (dissimilarity) and two types of experiential (i.e., contextual) indicators (exposure indices), measuring socioeconomic status (SES) with a greater range and number of income levels than in past research, and using multivariate models to account for metropolitan area characteristics. Results - We find that both dissimilarity and exposure measures are significantly associated with household income—black households with higher household incomes live in neighborhoods with greater exposure to whites and lower isolation from other blacks than do black households with lower incomes. Additionally, a number of MSA-level characteristics—several of which have not been considered in previous research—are substantially associated with black/white residential segregation. Conclusion - We interpret these findings in the context of spatial assimilation and place stratification perspectives, and conclude that racial segregation is at least partly based on class.

The rate of Native American adult cigarette use in Oklahoma is 33.6%, exceeding the average state adult smoking rate of 24.7%. The present study examines differences in attitudes toward cigarette use and perceptions of tobacco-related health dangers held by Native Americans in Oklahoma. We analyze cross-sectional data from the 2004 and 2008 Oklahoma Adult Tobacco Surveys (n = 4,530) in order to evaluate whether Native American Oklahomans held differing perspectives of the risks of cigarette use and secondhand smoke. Oklahoma Native Americans were less likely than Oklahoma whites to believe that cigarettes are addictive, maternal smoking is harmful, and secondhand smoke is harmful. There was no significant difference between Oklahoma whites and Native Americans in the belief that certain diseases could be attributed to cigarettes and secondhand smoke. We conclude that for those identifying as Native Americans, Oklahoma agencies can bolster knowledge in the areas of cigarette addiction, maternal tobacco use, and the dangers of secondhand smoke with more effective messages.

Presents a case study of the Oklahoma Department of Health’s effort to join with public health advocacy groups in order to regulate second-hand tobacco smoke. Details how this action was congruent with the American Society of Public Administration's Code of Ethics for interactive democratic policymaking, in which administrators are required to serve the public interest with compassion, benevolence, fairness, and optimism.

Past research in deterrence theory suggests that informal social sanctions intervene in the effect of religiosity on criminal and delinquent behavior, such that more religious individuals tend to perceive stronger informal sanctions (Grasmick, Bursik and Cochran 1991a Grasmick , Harold G. , Robert J. Bursik Jr. , and John K. Cochran . 1991a.]; Grasmick, Kinsey and Cochran 1991b Grasmick , Harold G. , Karyl Kinsey , and John K. Cochran . 1991b .). This study examines the influence of religiosity and social deterrence on college students' delinquent behavior, as measured by anticipated violation of a university's alcohol policy. Data were collected through a survey of undergraduate students (n = 484) at a large South-Midwestern public university that instituted a campus alcohol ban. The survey took place three months after the ban was implemented and asked students about religiosity, perceptions of informal deterrence, and expectations of violating the policy. Results partially support the hypothesis that religiosity predicts conformity primarily through the deterrent threat of informal sanctions. Religiosity increased perceived threats of shame and embarrassment, which in turn reduced the likelihood of anticipated policy violation. When controlling for demographics, college lifestyle, attitudes, and past drinking behavior, shame remained a significant predictor of expected policy violation, but embarrassment did not. Also, contrary to expectations, one measure of fundamentalist religiosity (biblical literalness) retained a direct main effect on intended compliance, even when taking informal sanctions into account. Theoretical, methodological, and policy implications are discussed.

Scholars have often discounted social class as a substantial contributor to residential segregation by race, in part as a result of using the dissimilarity index, which is likely to show high levels of uneven group distribution regardless of socioeconomic status (SES), and in part as a result of using limited categories of SES. This study expands on prior research by examining residential segregation between black-alone and white-alone households in 36 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with 2000 decennial census data, using both spatial unevenness (dissimilarity) and two types of experiential indicators (exposure indices), measuring SES across income levels and accounting for the presence of other races. Findings show that black households with higher incomes live in neighborhoods with greater exposure and lower isolation than do black households with lower incomes. Additionally, while the dissimilarity of black households decreases with income, unevenness is not as strongly connected to income as are the experiential measures. While race remains a primary determinant of residential segregation, results indicate substantial class differences.

In the present study we advance previous research in deterrence theory by examining the perceived deterrent effects of a newly instituted dry policy on a college campus. A survey of 500 full-time undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 26 was conducted 3 months following the ban on alcohol. Hypotheses are derived from deterrence theory and focus on both formal and informal sanctions as they predict projected offending. Findings indicate that perceived severity of the sanction does not predict deterrence against future policy violations. However, the informal deterrent of shame does lower projected offending. While these results suggest that a formal dry policy is not likely to deter future problem drinking behaviors among these college students, reductions may be achieved with the use of informal sanctions and the incorporation of principles from reintegrative shaming theory.

The growth of the private corrections industry has elicited interest in the comparative performance of state and private prisons. One way to measure the service quality of private prisons is to examine inmates' postrelease performance. Current empirical evidence is limited to four studies, all conducted in Florida. This analysis replicates and adds to the Florida measures in a different state and enhances previous methods. It uses data for a large cohort of Oklahoma state prison inmates released between 1997 and 2001. Controlling for known covariates, multivariate survival analysis revealed comparative rates of reincarceration for inmates in multiple exposure and comparison groups. These results are unique among prior studies on this topic; private prison inmates had a greater hazard of recidivism in all eight models tested, six of which were statistically significant. Finding no empirical support for claims of superior service from private corrections, the authors discuss policy implications and prospects for future research.

New Public Management and classical public administration theory posit that internal administrative practices based on market principles, including economy and efficiency, will increase the public good through more effective delivery of public services. However, classical public administration theory views bureaucrats as neutral functionaries in a top-down hierarchy while New Public Management calls for empowered agency entrepreneurs implementing economy and efficiency measures. Research from 1987 to 2003 on Oklahoma secondhand tobacco smoke regulation indicates that real administrative progress in secondhand tobacco smoke restrictions that enhance public health did not occur until 2002 when an Oklahoma health commissioner's aggressive political campaign, initiated through rationalistic internal agency emergency rules, resulted in smoke-free public and workplaces. This action—which resulted in more effective regulation of secondhand tobacco smoke—was not principally because of an internal New Public Management or classical public administration approach but mainly through a highly public outsider political and administrative process.

Identifying and evaluating the influence of factors that predict offenders' post-release performance is central to the study of recidivism. In this project, 60,536 adult prison releases from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections between 1985 and 1999 were tracked until May 31, 2004. Recidivism was measured as a return to incarceration and cases were analyzed with a Cox Proportional Hazards Survival Regression, which allowed for the assessment of the relative hazards of returning to prison over time. Predictor variables included offense type, release type (probation, parole, discharge), number of prior incarcerations, sentence length, time served in prison, security classification, education, age, sex, and race. A greater hazard of recidivism was associated with being a property offender (as opposed to a drug, violent, or sex offender), being released to probation (as opposed to being discharged), having a violent offense history, having a greater number of past incarcerations, and being young, male, and a racial minority. Sentence length and time served in prison had weak (but significant) associations with recidivism, while security classification and proportion of sentence served (as proxies for institutional performance) indicated modestly positive, significant relationships.

Before 2001, the Oklahoma Department of Health achieved little to protect the public from the dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke. In an ongoing effort between 2000 and 2003, the department joined with health groups to lobby for stronger requirements, resulting in a new Oklahoma administrative rule in 2002 and legislation in 2003 regulating secondhand tobacco smoke. This action was congruent with the American Society of Public Administration's Code of Ethics for interactive democratic policymaking, in which administrators are required to serve the public interest with compassion, benevolence, fairness, and optimism.

Identifying and evaluating the influence of factors that predict offenders' post-release performance is central to the study of recidivism. In this project, 60,536 adult prison releases from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections between 1985 and 1999 were tracked until May 31, 2004. Recidivism was measured as a return to incarceration and cases were analyzed with a Cox Proportional Hazards Survival Regression, which allowed for the assessment of the relative hazards of returning to prison over time. Predictor variables included offense type, release type (probation, parole, discharge), number of prior incarcerations, sentence length, time served in prison, security classification, education, age, sex, and race. A greater hazard of recidivism was associated with being a property offender (as opposed to a drug, violent, or sex offender), being released to probation (as opposed to being discharged), having a violent offense history, having a greater number of past incarcerations, and being young, male, and a racial minority. Sentence length and time served in prison had weak (but significant) associations with recidivism, while security classification and proportion of sentence served (as proxies for institutional performance) indicated modestly positive, significant relationships.

This article examines conscription and reform in the Russian army. It brings together academic studies, government reports, and anecdotal and media accounts to provide a comprehensive overview of the problems facing Russia’s military conscription policy. The article begins by examining the origin and development of the draft, and specifically how the Soviet legacy affects the current situation. It then turns to a major complicating factor, violence in the enlisted ranks, which contributes to draft dodging and desertion. Russia’s economic woes and the dilapidated state of the army further complicate the conscription issue by encouraging corruption and extortion. The article concludes with an overview of attempts to reform the army, both by the government and by civilian organizations.

While Russia perennially has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, researchers had little access to valid data during the Soviet era to examine this issue. Transparency increased following the dissolution of the USSR, and this article employs newly available vital statistics data to describe the demographic, temporal, and spatial patterns of suicide in Russia. The discussion reveals that suicide mortality in Russia is among the highest in the world and is more than three times higher than in the United States; exhibited radical changes between 1984 and 1994; varies widely within the country, with a general increase in rates from west to east; and is highest among working-age males.

The rate of Native American adult cigarette use in Oklahoma is 33.6%, exceeding the average state adult smoking rate of 24.7%. The present study examines differences in attitudes toward cigarette use and perceptions of tobacco-related health dangers held by Native Americans in Oklahoma. We analyze cross-sectional data from the 2004 and 2008 Oklahoma Adult Tobacco Surveys (n = 4,530) in order to evaluate whether Native American Oklahomans held differing perspectives of the risks of cigarette use and secondhand smoke. Oklahoma Native Americans were less likely than Oklahoma whites to believe that cigarettes are addictive, maternal smoking is harmful, and secondhand smoke is harmful. There was no significant difference between Oklahoma whites and Native Americans in the belief that certain diseases could be attributed to cigarettes and secondhand smoke. We conclude that for those identifying as Native Americans, Oklahoma agencies can bolster knowledge in the areas of cigarette addiction, maternal tobacco use, and the dangers of secondhand smoke with more effective messages.